Chemical Protective Garments - Tyvek
Over time, you’ll see a number of blogs here on chemical protective garments - mostly because there’s a lot to say about them. This particular article is about Tyvek garments.
Tyvek is a synthetic material made by DuPont from flash-spun, high-density polyethylene fiber. It is used in a number of applications (including envelopes), but the one we’re going to discuss here is its use in chemical protective clothing.
Tyvek is a good general purpose, disposable protective garment for light to medium chemical protection. It provides protection from a variety of materials, including dust, dirt, and hazardous particulates like lead, asbestos, and mold. An antistatic, low-lint material, Tyvek is strong and difficult to tear; however, it can be easily cut with scissors or other sharp objects. Tyvek protective clothing is also not a laminate, so its protection is not compromised as easily when the garment is abraded.
Areas where you would use Tyvek protective garments include: automotive repair or other operations where you want to protect from contact with oil and grease; painting to protect skin and clothing from paint splatters; installation of fiberglass insulation; sanding operations or other activities where you want to protect from particulates (including radioactive dust); by workers in clean rooms and laboratories; lead, asbestos, and mold abatement; food processing; and wherever you want to prevent exposures to employees from dust and dirt. As noted above, Tyvek is meant for light to medium chemical exposure scenarios and would not be a good choice in environments with heavy chemical exposure. Tyvek is also not flame resistant and should not be used around flames, heat, sparks, or in flammable or explosive environments.
Most people are familiar with the white Tyvek coverall, but Tyvek is also used make a number of types of protective garments including, lab coats, aprons, head-to-toe coveralls, and shoe and boot covers.
About The Author:
Rathi Niyogi is the CEO of CriticalTool, a national distributor of Tyvek Coveralls and other disposable garments. If you thought this article was helpful, additional information on choosing the right disposable garment for you can be found at http://www.criticaltool.com/protective-garment-materials.html
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Choosing Rainwear
Rainwear does more than simply keep out rain or snow, it protects from wind, cold, and chemical splashes. Your choice of rainwear depends on the expected weather, the expected temperatures, your planned activities, and your budget. Rainwear materials and designs greatly affect the performance you can expect. There are three major types of rainwear:
Water-Resistant / Breathable
Water-resistant/breathable rainwear repels wind and light precipitation while providing excellent breathability to keep you cool when your body heats up. It relies on durable water repellent (DWR) finishes applied by the manufacturer. It tends to be lighter, less bulky, and less expensive than other rainwear. It is generally not adequately weatherproof to protect you in harsh conditions or during extended periods of rain. It is appropriate for mild weather, light precipitation, and high activity levels. It is not appropriate as industrial safety equipment where protection from extreme weather or chemicals is needed.
Waterproof / Breathable
Waterproof/breathable rainwear provides an excellent choice for a wide range of weather conditions and activities. The combination of breathability and moisture protection through DWR finishes means that you can use a single piece of gear in both warm and cold conditions. The exact performance that you realize from waterproof/breathable rainwear depends on the fabrics used, Gore-Tex being a well-known example, and your activity level. Because water vapor (i.e., sweat) is able to escape through the fabric, the rainwear provides the best combination of repelling the elements while allowing you to stay comfortable as you work. Waterproof/breathable garments are generally not appropriate safety equipment for industrial applications.
Waterproof / Nonbreathable
Waterproof/nonbreathable rainwear provides impermeable protection from the elements, wind, and chemical splashes; the greatest range of applications from lightweight disposable protection to durable protection designed for adverse conditions. Unlike DWR-dependent rainwear, nonbreathable rainwear is most commonly protected using PVC coatings that provide protection against chemical spills, durability, and, in some cases, flame retardant properties. Others are protected using neoprene to provide chemical resistance not found in PVC and improved comfort. Waterproof/nonbreathable rainwear offers cost-effective, durable protection suitable to most industrial applications.
Features to Consider
Rainwear Care
Rainwear that is dependent on a DWR finish applied by the fabric manufacturer should always be maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Over time, the DWR finish will begin to wear and the shell will begin \”wetting out\” in the rain. This means that some of the rain is soaking into the material, rather than beading up and rolling off. Wetting out causes the shell to become heavier and reduces breathability. When wetting out is observed, the DWR should be renewed according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Rainwear made from materials such as neoprene can often be repaired when leaking occurs. Always follow manufacturer’s recommendations for repair of small tears and seams.
About The Author:
Rathi Niyogi is the CEO of CriticalTool, a national distributor of safety vests and other reflective apparel. If you thought this article was helpful, information on the basics of Reflective Clothing including Rainwear and ANSI standards can be found here http://www.criticaltool.com/high-visibility-reflective-clothing-the-basics.html
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The Top 5 Reasons to Insulate Your Home This Summer
For homeowners who have been considering adding home insulation - this summer is the time to do it.
1.) Last Chance for the Energy Tax Credit - This is the final year that homeowners are eligible to receive an energy tax credit for adding home insulation. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides for significant tax credits for energy efficient home improvements made during 2009 and 2010. Consumers who make these home improvements can receive a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500. To qualify, the primary purpose of the insulation must be to insulate. For example, adding aluminum siding to your home does not qualify as insulation. There must be a manufacturer’s certification and the insulation must be expected to last five years or carry a two year warranty. Most importantly, the insulation must be placed into service before the end of 2010 to be eligible for the tax credit.
2.) Increase Your Home’s Resale Value - Installing insulation can make your home more desirable to potential buyers. In this housing market, sellers are looking for any advantage. According to an Energy Pulse Survey (2006), 86 percent of Americans would choose one home over another because of superior energy efficiency.
3.) Lower Your Energy Bills - According to the US Department of Energy’s Office of Building Technology, the most effective method of reducing energy bills is adding home insulation. Without sufficient insulation, heating and air conditioning systems have to work harder because your home is leaking air, which leads to excessive utility bills. When homes are properly insulated, it takes a lot less energy to heat and cool them.
4.) Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Proper home insulation reduces your energy consumption, thereby reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Homeowners can stop wasting energy with attic insulation or whole house insulation and air sealing. According to the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA), insulated buildings in the United States reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 780 tons each year.
5.) Comfort - Create a cool, quiet and healthy home environment for the summer. Insulation not only keeps your home at the desired temperature, but also provides acoustical insulation. Enjoy your home with family and friends without the interference of barking dogs and lawnmowers. High quality foam insulation can also improve the air quality in your home because there are no fibers or loose matter and it will not support mold growth or bacteria. Keep the cool air inside and the noise and allergens outside to truly enjoy your home this summer.
About The Author:
Erin Shaughnessy is a freelance writer of articles about consumer advocacy and political issues. Look for future articles regarding insulation contractors and home insulation types. http://www.UsaInsulation.net/
Why a Home Solar Panel Will Save You Money and How You Can Get One for Free
What is a home solar panel how can it save you money? In short, solar panels are a viable and eco-friendly option for homeowners who want to heat and cool their home efficiently using the sun’s rays. Homeowners may even desire to power solar appliances using the energy captured and stored with solar panels.
A more detailed description of a home solar panel would also include the following facts. A solar panel is constructed from several solar cells or photovoltaic cells arranged in several arrays to create a panel. These solar cells soak up sunlight, which is then converted into energy via an electrically connected grid, which provides power and heat for your home. Many homeowners utilizing solar panels are enjoying the benefit of receiving funds from their local power company instead of the other way around.
Solar panels are best positioned on flat roofs and angled to the south. However, it’s possible to make efficient use of the sun’s energy with a home solar panel system that is within roughly 1,000 feet of your humble (or not so humble) abode.
Types of Home Solar Panels
If you’re looking to invest in a home solar panel system for your home, you currently have at least three from which to choose. Who knows what the market will produce as the research on renewable energy moves forward.
Homeowners can choose from a 12-volt solar panel system, a do-it-yourself solar panel system or a thin film solar panel system. Each of these options features something different for the homeowner, so be sure to conduct research on each solar panel system prior to making an investment.
What Are the Benefits of a Home Solar Panel System for a Homeowner?
The first thing every homeowner wants to hear is how a solar panel system is going to save money. Saving money on energy costs is definitely one of the most attractive benefits of installing solar panels into your home.
How much will you save? Of course, the amount will vary depending on the geographic location of your home and consistent weather conditions, but some homeowners estimate they are saving around 50% on their energy bills each month.
Yes, the initial outlay of funds to install solar panels on your home may seem daunting, but you’ll quickly see your investment pay off.
Where to Find Affordable or Free Solar Home Panels
One way to save money on solar panels is to build one yourself. \”Do it yourself\”, or DIY solar panels are becoming more popular as more people are now looking to save money on energy costs AND save money. This can be a fun project that is not as difficult as it sounds, if you have some patience and willingness to follow instructions. You can even find used components to build a solar panel for free or a very low investment.
Speaking of financial benefits, there are some significant financial incentives available through your local and federal government for homeowners looking to ‘go green’ with home solar energy systems. Solar power grants are often available for homeowners too, some of which can help you to fund the entire cost of your system.
Another attractive benefit of a solar panel system is that you would likely have some power in the event of a power outage in your area due to severe weather conditions or a power grid failure. Full power isn’t likely, but there is a good chance you’d have enough solar power stored up to provide some light and heat for your home.
And of course, one of the great benefits of using solar energy is that instead of paying your electric company, they will pay you! Yes, with a solar power system you may produce more than enough energy for your own use, and so your utility company will pay you for the surplus power.
Solar energy is clean and pure. There are no negative side effects associated with using solar power inside or outside the home. Solar power allows us to enjoy a smaller “footprint” on the environment as well, which means a cleaner and healthier world for future generations (perhaps even your own grandchildren!)
Some homeowners are opting to go completely off the grid and sustain their every energy need via solar energy. However, most homeowners simply desire to have a method of supplementing their energy needs and that’s where solar panels can save you money AND help the environment!
About The Author:
M.S. Rochell is the editor of http://www.Go-Green-Solar-Energy.com/ which offers education and inspiration on the benefits of going green with solar energy, DIY solar power, and affordable solar energy solutions. Visit our growing library of home solar panel articles and for our free Solar Panels eBooks.
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The Definition of Renewable Energy - Present and Future Outlooks
The definition of renewable energy is dependent on the term renewable. An energy source that naturally replenishes is considered renewable. Unlike fossil fuels which take millions of years to form, wind, rain, water and sunlight are self contained and naturally replenishing, thus renewable.
Many people think solar energy, the most popular form of renewable energy, is a new concept. The truth is solar panels were used as far back as the 1920s to heat water in lieu of more expensive electrical heating systems.
Renewable Energy Past to Present
When fossil fuels were unearthed, much of the previous solar energy use was abandoned for the cheaper, more reliable fossil fuels. As these fuels began to have an impact on the environment and their levels diminished, a resurgence of the renewable energy sources occurred.
Today, wind farms, solar electrical plants and solar thermal plants are used to power entire towns and cities.
Alternative energy communities are also popping up throughout the world with Canada being the first country to boast of an entire community based on solar energy. Technology is constantly changing and the future definition of renewable energy is also changing.
The Future of Renewable Energy
Everything that moves creates energy. This fact applies to wind, water and sunlight which are the most commonly used renewable energy sources. However, the movement of man is also being viewed as a source of renewable energy.
Speed bumps that harvest kinetic energy are one concept currently being tested by New Energy Technologies. The “bumps” are actually an inversion of the typical motion inhibitors. These flat panels sink slightly into the ground when a car passes over. The bump is created by the difference in height between the road and the lowered panel.
Under the panel, 2000 watts of instant energy is created for every passing car. With 1000 cars passing over the speed bump every day, 2,000,000 watts or 2000 kilowatts are produced every day.
Over the course of a month, that number jumps to 60,000 kilowatts. That is enough electricity to power 60 average homes for an entire month!
This type of kinetic energy harvesting is not limited to speed bumps. In Israel, roadways are being tested that collect small amounts of energy as cars pass over the special roadway surface.
The amount of energy is small, at an average of 400 kilowatts per kilometer (0.6 miles). While this does not seem like a lot of energy, if the entire United States interstate system were converted to kinetic energy harvesting material, the 75,000 km would produce 30,000,000 kilowatts of power. That is one very new and innovative definition of renewable energy!
The world is just beginning to see the potential kinetic energy has as a renewable source of electricity. Tokyo is installing flooring that harvests energy from daily subway visitors. Dance clubs are utilizing the energy created from movement on the floor to harvest energy.
Even asphalt is being considered as a prime material for harvesting thermal energy in desert climates where roadways can reach temperatures hot enough to fry an egg.
There are an abundant supply of new and innovative renewable energy solutions available to help us to transition our world to more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. Even today there are many new technologies that can help us to heat our homes, recharge our batteries and light our yards using clean, green energy sources.
About The Author:
M.S. Rochell is the editor of http://www.Go-Green-Solar-Energy.com/ which offers education and inspiration on the benefits of going green with solar energy, DIY solar power, and affordable solar energy solutions. Visit for more on the definition of renewable energy, and to receive our free Affordable Solar eBooks.
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The Future of the Office Photocopier Industry
Since Xerox first invented and sold the first commercial photocopy machine companies and organisations have paid for use of the machine on a cost per copy basis. This has traditionally included full maintainance and toner supplied under a service agreement. In-fact the office photocopier is unique in the fact its one of the only pieces of equipment that comes without a warranty from new. But photocopier expert Online Connect UK claim all that is about to change. Here’s what they have to say.
The photocopier has evolved completely from an ink or wet xerographic process to dry toner analogue machines and now to digital photocopiers. But the industry is stuck in the past, at a time where the photocopier or Xerox Machine required constant maintainance and broke down frequently. As the technology has evolved so has reliability improved and service costs fallen but that benefit has failed to be fully passed on to the consumer.
One of the easiest ways to explain is to compare photocopiers to the television industry. 30 years ago the average television broke down twice a year and being a television repair engineer was a full time living. Large companies such as Granada rented out televisions and there were even coin operated televisions. However the technology changed, not only did televisions become affordable but they became much more reliable. If I look today for Television Repair in Yell in my town I get one listing, where once I would have had 20 or 30 listings (albeit in the hardcopy yellow pages!). The same thing is about to happen to the photocopier market.
With digital technology we are now dealing with not a photocopier but a printer and scanner. The scanner part of the photocopier is very reliable and the only weakness comes from the printing and feeding of originals. With printers customers have come to expect reliability and customer changeable units. Digital Photocopiers will follow the same way. Recyclable units will replace the need for a service contract on the copier and copiers like printers will come with a warranty and the main parts will be changeable by the customer themselves.This has already been achieved in printers and the photocopier industry will eventually follow.
Consumer buying behaviour is now changing as well. Where once a photocopier was sold by a local dealer now people look to buy online off the internet. With suppliers such as Online Connect a wider choice of manufacturers is available and it will be reviews by the consumers themselves that will most influence purchase habits. The hard sale office photocopier salesperson will become a thing of the past. It’s now for the copier industry to deliver what the customer wants. They want reliability, they want an end to service and cost per copy agreements and they want cheaper prices. And so they should. The manufacturer markup on most photocopiers is 500 - 1000% and easy to change units that exist already on printers with a warranty would negate the need of expensive cost per copy agreements.
In general, digital photocopiers now act as MFP’s (Multifunction Printers) with scanning and photocopying as no longer the primary purpose. Slowly the idea of the paperless office is becoming a reality and both printing and copying is falling. This is partly happening because of the changing workforce. When email first came in I can remember people coming to the office and printing out all there email before they read it. Now people largely due to the internet are used to reading off the screen but it has taken time. Online Connect UK think it will be the customer that determines the speed of change within the photocopier market as they vote with there feet and ultimately it will be the companies and manufacturers that recognise and embrace change that will survive.
About The Author:
Jennifer Robinson writes for OnlineConnect.co.uk an office equipment and document management solution provider that specialise in the sale and rental of photocopiers for business and organisations. Visit there website http://www.onlineconnect.co.uk/
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Webmasters: There Is Nothing To Fear About PHP But Fear Itself
I remember when I first started on the Internet as a webmaster. I remember I was so scared I was going screw something up, I was scared to death to install scripts into my website.
My First Experience With Online Script Customization
In those days, I had a mailing list with more than 2000 people subscribed to my newsletter. I remember thinking that people may think I was less professional, if I keep my mailing list on Yahoo groups. I remember that I had the bright idea to operate the mailing list from my domain. My web hosting company offered mailing list software, within my web hosting account.
Because I had the ability to operate my own mailing list from my server, I decided that I should move my Yahoo groups mailing list to a mailing list on my own domain. That was in 1999, the year that I had purchased my first domain name.
My very first experience with Perl scripts was when I was managing my mailing list. I recall that there was some customization that I desired to do within the coding for that script. I read the documentation for that mailing list software, and the programmers make it sound so easy…
I read the documentation several times to make sure that I understood what I was trying to do. I recall that in Perl scripting, a comment tag is denoted by the #, in front of the comment.
After three days of preparation, I opened up the Perl configuration file to customize how my particular mailing list operated. Once I opened the file and found hundreds of lines of code, I have to admit, I was deeply intimidated by the task that lay before me…
After seeing the code, I went back to the documentation and started reading again… I was so scared that I was going to screw something up that I felt I needed to make absolutely certain that what I thought I was doing was actually what I should be doing…
I was scared I was going to screw something up, and I was intimidated by the process…
To be honest, it took me more than one week to comment out three lines of code and to un-comment another eight lines of code, because I was so uneasy about what I was doing…
I Can Fix Anything I Break
Finally, I took the attitude that I could not screw up anything too bad… I took the attitude that if I broke something, then I could fix what I broke… That was the real turning point for me when dealing with computer scripts…
I figured that so long as I remembered what I changed, I could fix anything that I broke…
So, I kept good records in a notepad on my desk, documenting every change I made and where I made it…
Customizing Existing Website Scripts
For the first couple months, I only played with other people’s Perl scripts… If I found something that I wanted my website to do, I would go find a Perl script that was designed to do that task for me… Then I would install that script on my server and customize it if I needed to do so…
Customization of Perl scripts was painful and slow, because I would have to look for sample online that would show me how to do what I wanted to do… Then with a sample in hand, I would try to make my website jump through the hoops I wanted it to jump through…
In my case, I spent a couple years customizing other people’s scripts for my websites… In those early days, I only played with Perl scripts, because that is what I was familiar with… I had heard people talk about how easy and efficient PHP was, but it was unexplored territory for me, so therefore, I remained intimidated by PHP and stayed away from it for much too long…
In the spring of 2005, I was looking for a particular solution that I could only locate in PHP scripts… Literally, I was forced to step outside of my comfort zone and to start looking at code written in PHP…
Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone Into PHP
Using online tutorials for PHP, such as those found at PHP.net, I got to speed really quickly on PHP…
My first impression of using PHP for online programming was that I could do one line of code in PHP for ever 20 lines of code in Perl… Of course, that could only be “my impression” of the difference between the two programming languages, because I was never really skilled in Perl to begin with…
After customizing two or three scripts in PHP, I realized that PHP was a really intuitive programming language… I realized that writing scripts in PHP would be much easier for me than writing scripts in Perl…
In the summer of 2005, after having written from scratch three or four scripts in PHP, I took the plunge…
To that date, my entire website had been written and developed in Perl… I spent the summer of 2005 converting all of the primary operations of my website to a PHP format…
I spent roughly 30 days programming in PHP format, bringing my website finally into the 21st century…
It is a decision that I have not regretted…
Compared to working with Perl, I find programming in PHP to be an absolute joy…
Overcoming One Problem At A Time To Find Solutions
Over the years, I have taught myself to program for the Internet, one step at a time, only writing the code that I needed to write to make my websites do the tasks that I wanted my website to do…
What I’m telling you is that I am not the most proficient programmer on the Internet, but I can program anything that I need to program. When I needed to create a script that enabled me to auto submit to Twitter, I spent two hours studying the problem, then one hour creating the solution…
When I needed to adapt my Twitter script to enable me to auto submit to similar sites, I spent 30 minutes coding a solution… Mind you, before sitting down to write the script, I spent one week researching the solution…
After having gone through the process, I can assure you of one thing…
I purchased a half a dozen scripts, written by other programmers, to help me understand the process of submitting content - via PHP script - to the social media websites…
I can assure you, from personal experience, that most of the PHP scripts in the marketplace that have been designed to enable you to submit content and social media websites, are just plain garbage…
In almost every case, the scripts that I purchased did not even do what they were advertised to do… In fact, most of the scripts available online that you can purchase today that claim they will help you submit content to social media and social bookmarking websites require you to manually place all content, one site at a time…
At the end of the day, I wasted $100 purchasing scripts that taught me absolutely nothing… and strangely, I wasted that money purchasing scripts where the social media websites listed no longer existed… What I mean to say is that one script was advertising that it had 120 social media websites built into its scripting… But while trying to register at those sites, I quickly figured out that more than 60 of those sites were no longer in business…
I researched and analyzed more than one dozen social bookmarking scripts… I was absolutely stunned that many of those websites were not even written my own language… The scripts that pull together the ability to submit a web page to more than 100 social media websites rely upon German, French, and Far East websites to give their scripts the appearance of offering good value…
In my particular case, I wanted to only submit content to English-speaking social media websites… After all, I only speak English… I don’t want to be in the minority, putting English-language tweets in foreign language websites… Much in the same way that I don’t want to see a bunch of German or Chinese in my Twitter public timeline…
I found the available solutions for social media marketing to be lacking, therefore, I had to create my own solution to do this for me…
As A Webmaster, You Must Learn To Overcome Your Fears
But the point of this story is not to say that I’m a programmer with some awesome scripts; it is meant to say that as a webmaster, you must be willing to overcome your fears, to do what needs to be done for your website, or you must be willing to hire someone to do that for you…
There are also tools and tutorials online that will teach you how to do custom PHP coding for your websites… Even if you don’t want to do the coding yourself, you can often find code online that will help you do what you want your website to do…
Some of the best resources online for learning how to program in PHP are:
For example, if you wanted to build a custom contact form for your website, there are tutorials that will teach you how to do so… If you’re intimidated by the process of learning how to do it for yourself, you can even find existing scripts that you can customize to serve your own needs… If you just don’t want to have to look at the code, then there are others who are willing to do that coding for you…
I have programmed entire websites before, but most people do not need someone to build an entire website for them… Rather most people are happy with the website that they currently have; they just wish they could add specific functionality to that website… That is what I do today… I create specific scripts to solve a specific problem, then I sell those scripts to other people…
I have found real job satisfaction in knowing that I can give people the added functionality that they want for their websites…
Answering The Call For Custom PHP Scrips, One Problem At A Time
People do not want a complete website overhaul, and I cannot blame them… But when the web designer built the website, he or she may have excluded an XML Sitemap… Those folks knock on our door, and we create XML Sitemaps for them…
If you want to learn how to build you own XML Sitemaps, you should visit:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://sitemaps.org/protocol.php
But, if you want to avoid the headache of doing that, then you should consider using our services at the website shown below…
If you simply want to add a small script to your website that permits your visitors to social bookmark your web pages, then you should go to:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://www.addthis.com/
But, if you want a more automated approach, you should consider purchasing my script for doing that at the website shown below…
If you want to add a free PHP contact form to your website, then you should take a look at:
\” target=\”_blank\”>http://www.ibdhost.com/contact/
However, if you want something customized just for you, then you owe it to yourself to visit the website shown below in my Author’s Resource Box…
The Only Thing You Have To Fear Is Fear Itself…
After ten years of online programming, I can assure you that the title of this article is correct… The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…
The tools and resources you need to have to be able to learn how to do your own PHP coding is available online, if you are willing to invest yourself to that end…
You just have to be willing to open the source code of the files on your website and to learn your way around the code… Once you have overcome the fear, online programming with PHP really is not that hard…
You can teach yourself how to program for the Internet, or you can hunt down people who are willing to do the programming for you…
About The Author:
If you need a custom PHP script coded for your website, or if you need help installing a script that you have purchased or otherwise acquired, my co-workers and I will be happy to take care of it for you… We also do XML Sitemap installations… Visit our website at: http://99dollarwebservices.com/ to learn more… I am Hartford Rhodes, and I look forward to helping you do things on your website that until now, you may have only dreamed about…
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5 Great Ways to Save Time with Enterprise VoIP Integration
The 3 main goals of today’s business are
Here you can learn 5 savvy ways to achieve these goals by integrating IP telephony in your enterprise IT infrastructure.
1. Process Your Client Requests Timely With Maximum Effectiveness
A) Would you like to receive messages from all possible sources (emails, faxes, voice messages, instant messages etc.) in a single inbox available 24×7 from both your e-mail client and by phone?
A unified messaging and voice mail service, integrated with your e-mail client and fax-server, is a solution that you need to:
B) If you have to answer too many calls a day, and some client calls even stay unanswered, then you can improve your customer servicing with queuing/skill-based routing (SBR) software or a software-based attendant console, integrated of with your CRM and ERP solutions.
This approach will permit you to:
You can also automate up to 80% of your client request processing with a voice portal or an IVR service, integrated with CRM and ERP software. This way, you’ll
2. Reduce Your VoIP Network Maintenance Efforts And Expenses
Enterprise VoIP network chores are rather simple, but because of the standard user interface complicity, you have to entrust these tasks to highly skilled administrators. A VoIP network management solution, integrated in your IT infrastructure, will provide you with:
3. Save Your Staff Time On Inner Communications
By integrating HRM software with your corporate address-book you can automate phone number management and address book update processes. Thus your address book will always contain actual contact data, and you’ll save your staff time wasted searching for it. You can also implement an address-book IP phone application to make contact data available right from employee IP phones.
Moreover, you can deploy a presence XML-service that will allow your staff to manage their own status and check the others availability before making a call. This way you’ll accelerate your employee daily communications too.
4. Speed Up Call-Accounting Daily Tasks And Cut Telecom Costs
With integration of a call-accounting solution with your accounting/billing software you can:
So you’ll get a tool to improve productivity of your accounting staff and reduce employee telecom costs.
5. Improve The Quality Of Your Collaboration With Long-Distance Colleagues, Clients And Partners
Audio/video conferencing software is excellent to hold meetings with multiple local and remote employees. But if you want your clients, partners and remote employees, who don’t have this software, to participate in a conference session, then you need to integrate it with widespread 3rd party
Note that, if your conferencing software is integrated with your e-mail client (IBM Lotus Notes, MS Outlook etc.), you can plan a conference call and gather the participants automatically, thus, saving your time and efforts.
Conclusion
By integrating IP telephony with your enterprise IT infrastructure, you can:
which will allow you to build your business quicker and easier.
About The Author:
You can learn how to empower your enterprise with VoIP in the book, \”The Connected Enterprise\”, here http://bcs-it.com/books/connected-enterprise/ The free e-book, just as the article, was written by Alexander Anoshin, the CEO of BCS-IT, who specializes in VoIP integration.
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Evaulating Medical Gas Costs In Your Dental Practice
Medical gas is a standard expense item in most dental practices. What most dental practitioners do not know is that there are wide variances in pricing depending on the source - perhaps as much as 30% to 40%.
Are you purchasing from a local industrial gas supplier? Or are you buying from a major medical gas distributor? Does your supplier manufacturer the gas they are providing or are they a reseller? Most dentists have not evaluated the source of their medical gas in relation to its expense.
Since the average dental office spends $1,200 to $1,600 annually on medical gas, Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide primarily, a practice would be well served to evaluate this expense. With a proper assessment of your business requirements, annual savings of $400 or more can be developed depending on your volume.
There are many factors that must be evaluated for an accurate assessment since some of the expense is variable and other portions are static.
The factors that influence medical gas expense are:
Product Cost
If you are a high volume user, then the product replacement expense and fees associated with delivery will be more important. Low volume users will find that tank rental charges can become the more significant variable depending on how many tanks you have and what the sizes are.
There are two sizes of tanks used in dentistry for both Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide. There is the small cylinder, called an E-cylinder, and there is a larger tank called an H-cylinder. The smaller cylinders are wheeled from chair to chair on an as needed basis. The larger cylinders are generally grouped in a storage room and the medical gas is piped to each patient location. The cost of product refill is proportionally higher with the smaller tanks because of economies of scale associated with the cylinder re-charging.
Small cylinders are best suited for dental practices with low volume requirements. Since delivery fees and often tank rental fees are constant with service for both small and large tanks it is more economical to utilize large tanks if the volume of gas usage is high. Also the cost of the product refill becomes more important with large volume users as price differences are multiplied.
Tank Rental
A monthly tank rental is charged when the supplier retains ownership of the tanks.
Medical gas suppliers like to rent tanks to their customers because there is very good profit in rental. Retail prices vary widely but a large H-cylinder tank can be purchased for somewhere between $160 and $250. And some dentists do purchase their tanks to avoid the rental fees that will often pay for a tank in 2-4 years.
Delivery Fees
Fees with delivery can vary widely. All suppliers charge a delivery fee. Many charge a hazardous material handling fee (not really necessary for dentists), an administrative fee, a gasoline surcharge, product surcharges (when their product expense rises) and many other creative charges. These delivery fees should be examined and even challenged if not necessary because they can quickly become a large percentage of your expense.
Service Requirements
Last, but not least, service must be considered. Is the source for your medical gas reliable and dependable? Do they promptly respond when your gas inventory gets low? Better yet, do they check with your office on a regular basis to see if you need service?
About The Author:
Written by Chick Cowan. Becoming a United Dental Alliance Member is quick and painless, with no cost to join. Save up-to 40 percent on over 40,000 dental products. More information can be found at http://www.theuda.com/
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Internet Marketing - Why 2010 Will Be A White Knuckle Ride For Web Marketers
Next year may just prove to be one of the most challenging times for pursuing online or Internet marketing on the web. It may just be a watershed moment for many marketers struggling to keep abreast of all the different factors which have come into play in recent months. Most of these changes will stem from two main sources for potential upheaval: the first being the New FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines regarding Testimonials and Endorsements and the second being \”ALL\” the recent changes within Google.
Actually, we already have the new FTC Guidelines which came into effect on Dec. 1st of 2009, but how these new rules are enforced will play out in the coming year as test-cases are brought to court. Basically, these new rules call for absolute disclosure and full transparency regarding Testimonials and Endorsements when a product or service is being offered for sale. Any business (monetary) relationship between the endorser and the company must be made known to the potential buyer. Obviously for those in online or affiliate marketing this could have a great impact if these new rules are strictly enforced. Just imagine all the website owners and bloggers who slap a few banners or affiliate links on their sites to cover hosting or operating costs… will they now have to disclose all these business arrangements?
For professional affiliate marketers and the companies/products they’re promoting, these new guidelines could cause potential headaches and/or legal ramifications since a general blanket disclaimer on their sites will no longer be suffice. To help solve this problem, many of the major companies are now placing an \”affiliate\” tag on all their banners and making it obvious a business relationship exists with its affiliates. In addition, many online marketers are placing additional disclaimers, affiliate seals and in other ways making it known certain links are indeed affiliate links and a relationship does exist with the product and/or services being promoted.
With these new guidelines, another big issue is email marketing, one of the major marketing techniques of most online marketers. Will a full disclosure be necessary for every email sales pitch? Savvy web marketers know the key to increased sales is in the \”follow-up\” and the \”cookie-ing\” of potential buyers; how will the new Guidelines affect this very effective marketing practice? How all these new rules or guidelines play out will make next year a very interesting one for marketing on the web.
Despite this, perhaps the greatest cause for upheaval in the coming year will be Google. There are countless reasons why Google will be a major game changer in 2010 for online marketing. Ever since Bing and more recently the potential Bing/Yahoo competition, Google has gone into complete overdrive, implementing new changes and debuting new programs like there was no tomorrow.
First, we have Google Caffeine which Google is introducing (full force) early in the new year. Google Caffeine, which is a major overhaul of its search engine, will no doubt cause many a marketer some sleepless nights as the total fall-out becomes evident. Other Google updates in the past (Florida Update comes readily to mind) have wrecked havoc on many top ranking sites, but this time Google is doing things a little different and have even given webmasters a beta version of the new search engine. Still, rightly or wrongly, many online marketers are bracing themselves for the full impact of Caffeine, will it mean smooth sailing or a stomach sickening roller-coaster ride for marketers and webmasters?
Second, we have the introduction of \”Real Time\” search which will be featured in Google’s SERPs. This will make the social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace… much more important. Again, the implications for online marketers could be enormous since many can now reach the first page through a different route. Will it also mean more \”Real Time\” spam? But more importantly, will it mean a greater marketing opportunity for the online marketer who exploits it?
Third, we are seeing Google moving more and more towards \”Visual Search\” with the introduction of Google Goggles for mobile phones. Just take a picture and you get the Google results instantly - no typing, just point and click. Just envision countless clueless teenagers or more importantly helpless shoppers suddenly being empowered with knowledge and wisdom. Could do more for education since the invention of the printed word and the info-commercial combined. Talk about scary! But will the implications for web marketing be just as revolutionary and enlightening?
Fourth, Google has made it known through its spokesperson Matt Cutts, that site-loading times will be a ranking factor in the new improved Google. Also, proper and correct page coding will also be more important if you want your site to be at full advantage. Broken links will be a big \”No-No\”, while linking out to important related sites a big plus. All this is only logical, Google’s main product is and has always been its search results, anything which improves those results and provides a more pleasing experience for the Google user should be front and center. Obviously, one way for Google to stay on top, is to provide the best search results to its users.
Fifth, in order to please the end-user, Google is also moving more towards \”Personalized Search\” which will make SEO and ranking in the top spot for your chosen keywords a total nightmare for many professional SEOs and online marketers. If everyone can choose their own top results, isn’t SEO more or less, a lame duck? Again, the ramifications of personalized search will further play out in 2010, but will professional marketers like what they see?
Finally, while no one would argue Google is King of the Hill when it comes to online search, will all these new changes strengthen or weaken Google’s grip? Will the combined Bing/Yahoo be able to give this giant some much needed competition? Or will Google’s main competition come from an unlikely source, such as big name multi-national corporations who are moving their operations online. Can these big-name keyworded domains start directly pulling in the majority of the web’s traffic, making all search engines secondary? As people become more web savvy, will they go directly to what they’re looking for on the web, bypassing the search engines altogether - including the mighty Google? Such a scenario could have greater consequences for the affiliate marketer since a direct line to a company’s site or product will obviously mean less sales for the online marketer, who really works in coordination with the search engines, either through organic search or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in these same search engines.
Overall, the new FTC Guidelines and recent changes to Google, will make next year one of the most interesting times to be pitching anything online. Throw into this the full effect what a combined Bing/Yahoo might bring to the table, and you have the recipe for a tumultuous white knuckle ride, until the dust finally settles and marketers make adjustments like they always do. So hold on, because things will probably get a little hectic for many web marketers before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
About The Author:
The author is a full time online affiliate marketer. His livelihood is derived from and depended upon search engine marketing and daily monitoring of targeted keywords, mainly within Google. He runs numerous sites, including: Internet Marketing and Internet Marketing Tools.
Copyright (c) 2010 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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